(OLD) The True Secret of the Red Luma
by Magifoofa
Summary: Willpower can be a dangerous thing... When Dry Bowser vows to restore his fallen army, his willpower restores him to his true self. Only four residents of the Mushroom World can stop not one, but two threats. Read if you want. But be warned, this is really old. Spare yourself.
1. Prologue 1: Tale of the Stars

_There was once a great entity called the Willbender._

 _It was a magnificent red dragon, and it could alter reality using the willpower of others._

 _The Willbender was kind, and it helped many people achieve their dreams and goals by using their willpower._

 _But one day, an evil king wanted to conquer the world and control everyone and everything in it, starting with their enemy._

 _Unable to resist, the Willbender did its magic. But the evil forces behind the willpower messed the Willbender, and its magic became uncontrollable._

 _The Willbender then went crazy, using whatever willpower it received to make itself stronger and wreak havoc._

 _People were now scared of the Willbender and his might. But four brave heroes went out to find the Willbender and defeat him._

 _The four heroes traveled far and wide._

 _After many days of travel, the four heroes found the Willbender._

 _The Willbender challenged the four heroes to a duel, to prove its power. The four heroes and the Willbender began to battle, seeing who was more powerful._

 _The final blow of the battle resulted in a huge explosion of power._

 _Now the four heroes and the Willbender are said to be hidden from view as stars, waiting until powerful enough will awakens them._

Rosalina closed the book. "Mama! Can you read us another story?" A yellow luma asked. The Queen of the Stars chuckled, "That's all for tonight, little ones." A chorus of "Awwww..."'s echoed through the library. "I'll read you another story tomorrow." Rosalina promised. All the Lumas cheered. All but one... the one they called Red...


	2. Prologue 2: The Two Kings

_Thousands of years ago, there was a kingdom in the Darklands._

 _The kingdom had an army, named the Kookarians. Both yellow-scale and brown-scale koopas were among the ranks of the army._

 _King Biztei ruled over the kingdom and controlled the army with his wife, Queen Coolakoop._

 _They had two sons, Luka and Rexebris. Luka was a yellow-scale Koopa and Rexebris was a brown-scale Koopa._

 _At first, the brothers got along well. But as time went on, Rexebris became restless. He wanted to control his own army, not share with his brother. But he continued to be Prince with Luka._

 _Years went by. The King and Queen passed away, and Luka took the throne._

 _Furious, Rexebris convinced all brown-scale Koopa in the Kookarians to come with him and start a new army._

 _They moved far away from the Kookarians' castle, and Rexebris named his army the Dark March._

 _Luka was only left with the yellow-scale Koopas, but he wouldn't let that get him down. Re-naming the Kookarians the Koopa Troop, he went out to find his brother and reason with him._

 _However, Rexebris refused to listen._

 _A battle waged between the two Koopas, resulting in a loss for the Dark March._

 _With most of his army either dead or with major injuries, he_ _swore that one day, he would conquer the Koopa Troop._

 _A mysterious red light swamped Rexebris's castle, and the Dark March was returned to its glory, more powerful than ever._

 _Rexebris launched an attack on Luka's castle, in an attempt to turn the tables._

 _The attack was an success, but Luka wasn't going to give up without a fight._

 _The brother agreed that they would settle it with a fight - whoever pushes the opponent into lava wins._

 _On the night of a full moon, they fought. Both the brothers fought their best, but eventually, Rexebris got toppled into the lava._

 _Rexebris was seared by the lava, and his minions suffered the same fate._

 _But some say, on nights of a full moon, you can see the remains of the brown-scale Koopa king walking in the Darklands..._


	3. Chapter 1: A Wish

Kamek closed the book he was reading from. "And that's the end of the story," he said, "Larry, could you get that batch of Dry Bones from Dry Bowser?"

"Sure thing!" Larry replied, and went on his way to Dry Bowser's castle ruins.

"Kamek," Lemmy nudged Kamek, "What if Rexebris comes back?"

"That's ridiculous!" Kamek laughed, "Rexebris is _long_ dead! He'll never come back and it'll never, ever, EVER happen again."

"Are you suurrrrrrre?" Lemmy questioned.

"Of course I'm sure!" Kamek snapped back.

Dry Bowser sat in a seat located not too far from the front door of his former castle. A few Dry Bones lumbered around while the skeletal giant thought. There was once a time when he was king. A mighty king. But he and his army were destroyed, even with the power they had gained. He shook his head to clear the thoughts, almost making it fall off.

"That was **ages** ago!" He told himself. The memories of those days hadn't come around for a long time, so why were they coming now? The bell that he had placed above the door rang as it opened, and one of Bowser's children walked in.

"Hey Uncle Dry!" Larry greeted as he entered the crumbling castle.

"Hello." Dry Bowser replied, his bones rattling as he spoke.

Dry Bowser and Bowser weren't directly related, but their blood probably met up somewhere, so his kids just called him 'Uncle Dry'.

"So, is the batch of Dry Bones ready?" Larry asked.

"Yes, they're just over there." Dry Bowser said, pointing to a group of Dry Bones playing Snap to pass the time while they waited.

Larry walked over to the Dry Bones and picked them up... sort of. Dry Bowser tossed him a sack that fell on his face. Larry took the bag off his face, picked up the Dry Bones bones and put them in the bag.

"Thanks Uncle Dry." Larry said, smiling.

Dry Bowser couldn't help but smile back as he said, "Anytime, lil' one. See ya later."

Larry walked out of the door with the Dry Bones, and the bell rang once again.

 _'All that once was of my former army... is going to the former enemy,'_ Dry Bowser thought. He shook his head clear of the thoughts again. _'No! Stop thinking that, you bony skull bag!'_

But the thoughts continued, no matter how hard he tried.

 _'How could I let myself let it go..._

 _'How could I let myself let go what he did to me..._

 _'One day..._

 _My army will rise again...'_

Red was wandering the Observatory from sheer boredom. Most of the Lumas were babbling on about the storybook, and those who weren't were playing some stupid game. Apart from Polari, of course. Red sighed angrily.

"Why is there _nothing_ to _do_ around here?!" He asked no-one in particular.

Suddenly, he felt a tickling sensation in his tummy. The sensation got stronger, and started to feel more like something was being boiled inside of him. Quickly, he flew over to the Red Star, an item that he had protected for a long time, and something he had let an annoying red-clad plumber use. He held it very tightly, unable to let go of it once. It would be far too dangerous if he did. He started to glow bright red, and the more the boiling sensation strengthened, the more he glowed. Eventually, his whole body was glowing. 

"Are you sure that you're sure that you're sure that you're sure that you're sure that you're sure that you're sure that you're sure that you're sure that you're sure?" Lemmy questioned for what seemed like the a millionth time.

Kamek sighed angrily. " **OF COURSE** I'M SURE THAT I'M SURE THAT I'M SURE THAT I'M-"

Suddenly, a wave of red energy flew through the sky, shaking the earth. The earthquake caused by the wave lasted for a minute before fading.

"What... What was that about?" Lemmy asked.

"SUPERNATURAL!" Iggy screamed.

"Now now, don't go rushing to conclusions." Kamek said, "It was probably just a normal earthquake."

Bowser ran into the room and said, "Did you guys feel that earthquake just then?"

"Well what do you think." Kamek said bluntly.

"Um... yes?" Bowser asked.

Kamek nodded.

"Yayyyy I got right!" Bowser said happily.

Kamek had managed to successfully read to the kids without Lemmy disrupting him once. Kamek 1, Day 0.


	4. Chapter 2: The Return of a King

A loud crash woke Bowser Jr. up with a start.

"What the Bonechill was _that?!_ " He shouted.

He got out his bed and went outside. At least 5 brown-scale Koopa Troopas were running around knocking things over.

"What the..." He muttered before running to his father's room.

"Papa! PAPA!" He shouted.

Bowser made a low growl of annoyance before asking, "What is it, Junior?"

"There's a whole bunch of brown-scale Koopa Troopas trashing the place!" Junior exclaimed.

"I'll sort 'em out." Bowser growled, and got out of his bed. He stomped over to the Koopa Troopas and yelled, "Settle down, ya bunch of troublemakers!"

The Koopa Troopas ignored him entirely, continuing to demolish the room.

"LISTEN TO ME, YOU BAG OF BONEHEADS!" He roared.

The Kooplings looked outside, and Kamek had wandered up.

"What the Bonechill..." Larry said, trailing off.

"Daddyyyyyy, why you gotta be so louuuuuuuud? I was sleepin' quite comfortably there." Lemmy moaned.

"Well it's not my fault they won't listen to me." Bowser replied.

"Maybe we should go for a _nice, relaxing,_ walk outside." Kamek suggested.

Bowser snorted a flame out of his nostril and said, "Fine."

He picked up Bowser Junior and Lemmy, and Kamek got on his broom.

"Let's go." He huffed, and led them all outside.

The Koopa family wandered outside.

"Those skullbags are gonna trash the whole place, I reckon." Bowser Junior grumbled.

"They better not." Wendy replied.

The brown-scale Koopa Troopas that were destroying the room in the castle ran past the family, seemingly excited to something... or some _one_.

"What's their deal?" Roy asked, annoyed by their presence.

Suddenly, Kamek let out a loud squawk.

"I-it can't be...!" He stammered.

"Can't be what?" Bowser asked, "Seriously, it's not _that_ bad, is it?"

"It _is_ that bad!"

Standing on a ledge was a figure that resembled Dry Bowser, but a bit thinner, and with flesh.

"King Rexebris!" One of the brown-scale Koopa Troopas shouted in glee.

"Yes, it's me." The figure, presumably Rexebris, replied.

"Rexebris?!" Lemmy shouted. "Kamek, you told me it would never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever **ever** happen again!"

"It was highly unlikely!" Kamkek replied.

"Highly unlikely doesn't mean it _won't_ happen!"

"Cut it out, you two." Bowser growled.

Rexebris came down from the ledge. "I see you already know my name." He said with a smirk on his face.

"Enough with the smirking already, big shot, just tell us why you're here." Bowser snapped.

"I'm here because I'm going to take over the Darklands. Starting with _you_ , of course." Rexebris replied.

"Oh really." Bowser growled.

"Really." Rexebris said. "Of course, my army hasn't been _completely_ rebuilt yet, but it'll be up and running in no time."

"Even if you attack, we've got an army that's **way** stronger than yours will ever be!" Bowser Junior shouted.

Rexebris laughed. "You're funny, Bowser Junior."

"HUH?! How do you know my name?!" Junior exclaimed.

"Let's just say that _Uncle Dry_ got returned to his original state. Oh, only after about 1000 odd years."

"So _you_ were Uncle Dry?!" Larry exclaimed.

"Or was Uncle Dry Rexebris?" Iggy asked himself.

"Yes, I was your precious little "Uncle Dry". It was yesterday when _he_ realised that now was the perfect time to strike!" Rexebris yelled. A chorus of shouts came from the brown-scale Koopa Troopas on the ledge. "Although, one cannot take over a kingdom without a successor, can they?" He glanced at Morton and smirked, making him shrink down a little in fear.

"So what do plan to do about **that** , huh?" Bowser said. "Clone one of us?"

"Heh, why would I _clone_ you when I can just have the real thing?" Rexebris replied.

"You're not saying that..." Morton said quietly.

Rexebris grinned evilly at Morton. "I **am** saying that."

" **If you're thinking of taking Morton, I'm not gonna let you!** " Bowser roared. He spat a fireball on Rexebris, only to find that he had avoided it.

"Bet you can't do that, can you, Bowser?" Rexebris said smugly. Bowser growled, then let out a volley of smaller fireballs, but Rexebris was always ahead. He stopped next to Morton and said, "I'll be taking this, thank you." He picked him up and went back up on the ledge.

"Until next time, Bowser!" He shouted, then ran off with the brown-scale Koopa Troopas following him.

Bowser growled, his face locked into a frown. "Don't think this is over, Rexebris!" He roared.

"This is just the beginning..." 


	5. Chapter 3: Escape

It was cold in Rexebris's castle, just as cold as the castle floor during the winters of the Darklands. Morton shuddered to think how cold it would be when winter came around in this place. Rexebris sat on his rather decorated throne. It had a gold rim and it was adorned with red jewels.

"Why am I here, creep?" Morton asked angrily.

"Well," Rexebris said, examining his long claws, "I'm not going to be here forever. I've seen you fight, and not only will you be a valuable asset to the Dark March's battle squadron, you'll be an _excellent_ king when I'm gone." He sat up. "What I'm saying is that you'll be the prince of my wonderful army."

"Why would I ever help lead this dumb army?" Morton yelled. "I'll never help fight for you, or be king when you die!"

Rexebris was shocked by this, and asked, "What would compel such a nice little boy like you to such nasty things?"

"For one, you kidnapped me like my dad kidnaps Peach!"

"I had to get you _one_ way or another." Rexebris replied, clearly disgusted. "Might you be refusing to help because you consider yourself _weak?_ " He asked.

"Not even in a million years." Morton snarled back.

"I think you're just denying the truth. You may not be the best fighter around, but I can certainly make you one." Rexebris growled. A smirk was plastered on his face.

The more Rexebris said, the more wound up Morton got. He just couldn't stand this guy.

"Well...?" Rexebris asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. I'm not going to fight for you, I'm not going to rule after you. I'm NOT going to help you in any way." Morton growled. "Take me back home."

"Take you back home?!" Rexebris exclaimed. "Well I never! I thought you'd be right at home here!"

"Far from it."

"Look, I know you miss your father, but you're in good claws here. Better claws."

"I'd like to see you live up to that, _big shot_."

Rexebris growled something under his breath with a big scowl on his face. Morton tapped his foot while he waited for him to say something. Time seemed to drag as Rexebris thought, and after what seemed like the longest minute in existence, he came to a conclusion.

"You will stay here with me whether you like it or not. You will start your training tomorrow."

He called over a Koopa Troopa and said, "He will show you to your room. Now go."

The Koopa Troopa looked at him with a threatening look, and Morton figured he had no choice but to go to his bedroom. He shuffled behind the Koopa Troopa as he led him to his new bedroom. He would stay there, but only for a little.

Tonight, he was going to break out.

Red sat near the Red Star and looked down on the playing Lumas. He was still unsure why the same energy from those thousands of years ago had come back. Maybe it was a false alarm? Probably not. There was no way that it was just him.

"It was probably just "the monster" again. Stop being so ridiculous, Red." He told himself.

Suddenly, another tickling sensation started up in his belly.

 _Again?!_ He thought, but he soon realised that this one was different. It was certainly related to the evil energy from long ago, but this one was opposing it. Rebeling. As the tickling became a boil, he clutched the Red Star. The boil escalated into a roaring fire, and Red knew that this one was a biggie. He started glowing bright red, and as expected, he was soon glowing immensely. That's when two horns started sprouting out of his head.

It was getting quite late now, and Morton was still lying in his bed, waiting for the right time. It had to be around about 10:30 by now, so why in Bonechill's prison wasn't that excuse for a king in his bed? An shrill scream of what sounded like a dragon broke his train of thought. This guy kept _dragons_ under his place?! A wave of red energy rushed through the night sky, leaving a visible trail behind it. The stars shone bright red for a second, before returning to normal. Somehow, Morton knew it was time to put his plan into action. He squirmed out of his shell and placed it under the covers, then put some pillows underneath. He felt rather uncomfortable going outside naked, but he had to do it if he was going to get away from Rexebris. He opened the window and squeezed through the gap. He clung onto the windowsill outside as he closed the window as best as he could, then dropped down to the ground. He might of disturbed some troops some the shock he sent when he landed, but he couldn't care less. He ran as fast as he could away from the castle. Only Grambi knew where he was headed, but Morton was hoping it was somewhere safe.

Somewhere where Rexebris would never find him.


	6. Chapter 4: The Meeting

Red floated over to where the Green Lumas were. They were discussing sandwiches, and what flavour they liked the best. He cleared his throat and said, "Guys." They turned and looked at him.

"Yeah? What is it, Red?" The female of the group, Emerald asked.

"Can we... meet at the Gate? I need to talk with you guys about something." Red replied.

"Is it sandwiches?" The loudmouth Luma named Crocodile asked.

"No, Crocodile." Red told him bluntly.

"Oh."

"OK." The so-called leader of the group, Lime said. "Now?"

"Yeah, that works." Red replied.

The Green Lumas got up and went with Red to the Gate. Once they arrived, they seated themselves on the ground.

"So what is it?" Emerald asked.

"Remember when you four had to stop me?" Red asked.

The Green Lumas nodded in unison.

"Well, it's the power that drove me insane. It's coming back."

They were all shocked by this, apart from the lazy one, Mint.

"Are you hallucinating?" He asked.

"No..." Red replied.

"I wouldn't be able to help ya anyway." Mint said, shrugging.

"We can't have that energy coming back!" Emerald said, concern shaking her voice.

"No! That's bad!" Crocodile loudly stated.

Lime spoke up. "Maybe it's time we called them and get their help."

"But to do that, we'd need to go down to into the atmosphere, and we need Rosalina's consent before we go." Emerald said to Lime. "That's certainly not an easy thing to do."

"We could just go tonight." Crocodile half-shouted, just to be shushed by the rest of the Green Lumas.

"Keep it down!" Mint scolded.

"OK, OK, _sheesh_." Crocodile replied.

Red told them, "If we're going to get them, we're going to have to get them all in one place."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Lime asked.

"I've got a plan..."

Red motioned for them to huddle together, and the Green Lumas shuffled in. Together, they started planning how they were going to get 'them' together.

Rosalina grabbed another book from the shelf and started going through its pages.

"Miss Rosalina, you never told me why you're doing this." Polari said.

"I've noticed some strange occurrences with Red." Rosalina replied. "I don't know why it's happening, but maybe one of these books will help..." She continued flicking through the pages of the book she was skimming through.

Hours passed by, and Rosalina couldn't find a single piece of information that could help.

"Well, I'd better find a story to read to the Lumas tomorrow." She yawned. She got out of her chair and flicked through the pages of the storybook.


	7. Chapter 5: Knowing Their Purpose

t had been hours since Morton had escaped from Rexebris's castle. He just hoped Rexebris hadn't noticed. He was cold without his shell, and he had no idea where he was going. Plus, he was getting tired, and he couldn't just sleep out in the open. He looked up at the stars.

' _I miss you guys._ ', He thought.

He continued walking down the river he found. He remembered Kamek saying something about following a river some time ago. He hoped that he meant it in this situation.

Some time later, he saw a fire lit in the distance.

' _Maybe the people there are nice?'_

He continued walking, this time to the fire. About half an hour later, he arrived at the place where the fire was. There were a few huts that looked a bit damaged, and around the fire were some brown-scale Koopa Troopas. They all had some sort of marking on their faces, but with the low amount of light the fire gave, it was hard to tell. One of the Koopa Troopas saw Morton and his eyes widened.

"Ohyay ymay Grambi! Ayay elless-shay Koopa!" The Koopa Troopa shouted.

The rest of the Koopa Troopas turned and looked at Morton with shock.

"U-um... Hello?" He nervously said, waving a little.

Some of the Koopa Troopas looked at him with a confused look on their face.

"Is it alright if I stay here for a little?" He asked.

There was a small silence before one of the Koopa Troopas said, "Atwhay azycray anguagelay oesday ethay elless-shay Koopa eakspay?"

"Ityay ustmay ebay ayay ecretsay odecay atthay ethay Dark March eakspay!" Another Koopa Troopa shouted accusingly.

Morton had little to no idea what was going on. He could on pick out a few things from their unusual language, and it seemed like they thought he worked for the Dark March.

"No... I escaped from the Dark March." He told them.

The Koopa Troopas had no idea what he just said.

"Atwhay idday youyay ustjay aysay?" A Koopa Troopa asked.

"I said: I escaped from the Dark March." Morton replied, talking slower so the Koopa Troopas had a chance of understanding him.

They didn't have a clue of what he just said. He picked up a nearby stick and started drawing what had happened. The Koopa Troopas watched with curiosity. When he was done, the Koopa Troopas finally understood.

"Youyay ancay aystay erehay untilyay youyay areyay eadyray otay eavelay." The Koopa Troopa that first saw him said.

Morton didn't really know what he said, but he guessed it was OK for him to stay.

"Emay andyay ymay eoplepay eakspay Igpay Atinlay, osay eway oday otnay ompletelycay understandyay youryay anguagelay. Eway illway ytray ouryay estbay otay eakspay ityay, oughthay." The Koopa Troopa said.

A Koopa Troopa got a pot of some ink-like substance and drew a marking on Morton's face. The rest of the Koopa Troopas cheered.

' _They sure know how to make someone feel welcome.',_ Morto thought.

"I d'wanna get da mail dough Kameeeeeeeeeek." Bowser whined.

Kamek gave him the 'do it' look.

"Fine." Bowser huffed, and shuffled outside. It was a crisp morning, and the rock on the ground was practically ice. He opened the mailbox and inside was an fancy pink envelope.

"Oh, Toadsworth must be getting on Peach's nerves again." He said with a smirk.

He grabbed the envelope and went inside, the wind slamming the door behind him.

"Master Bowser, I thought I told you not to slam the door." Kamek said.

"I didn't slam it, the wind did." Bowser replied.

"OK. So, is that one letter it?" Kamek asked, looking at the envelope.

"Yep."

Multiple THUD's were heard as Lemmy fell down the stairs. Bowser and Kamek looked at him.

"I think he was sleep-walking again." Bowser said with a hint of concern.

Then his circus ball bounced down the stairs and on Lemmy's head.

"Yikes." Kamek commented.

"Guards!" Bowser yelled.

Two Koopatrols scrambled over to him, leaving a trail of playing cards.

"Were you two playing cards?" Bowser asked, confused by the Koopatrols.

"Yes sir. Go Fish, to be exact." One of the Koopatrols told him.

"Suuuuuure. Could one of you two go move Lemmy out of the way? Make sure you put the ball next to him." Bowser asked, pointing to Lemmy.

"YES SIR!" The other Koopatrol said, and went to go move Lemmy.

"Do you want me to pick up these cards, sir?" The Koopatrol that stayed behind asked.

"Yes. Do that." Bowser replied.

The Koopatrol started picking up the cards frantically, but had a hard time due to his armour.

Bowser walked into the living room and sat down on _his_ chair.

" **Kamek!** You gonna come in here to help me read the letter?" He yelled from his seat.

"Coming!" Kamek yelled back, then zoomed in on his broomstick.

Bowser opened the envelope and took out the letter.

"Dear... Bowser. Hey, I read a bit!" He said.

"Wow, Shroomlock. I hadn't noticed." Kamek replied sarcastically. "Come meet me in front of the castle tonight to sort out the next "kidnapping". From Peach."

"Oh OK!" Bowser said happily. "I dunno why she wants to meet me in _the dark_ , but whatever."

 _This is very strange,_ Kamek thought. _Very, very strange._

The door slammed open and Toad ran in.

"Toad, why did you-a just come in like that?" Luigi asked while eating his breakfast at the table.

"I got an **ominous** letter from Bowser! And it mentions Mario!" Toad shouted, waving his arms about.

"Of course it mentions him." Luigi mumbled, rolling his eyes. "Does it-a say anything about a 'green 'stache'?"

Toad looked at the letter briefly, then looked up again and said, "Nope."

"Dang."

"SO WHERE IS MARIOOOOOOOOOOO?" Toad asked, well, like a Toad.

"He's-a in his room. **Sleeping.** " Luigi replied somewhat angrily.

Mario walked in, still in his PJ's. He mumbled, "I _was_ , until he-a woke me up."

"Oh. Um. Morning, Mario." Toad said.

"What does the letter say?" Mario asked.

Toad cleared his throat and read, "Dear Toad, I'm going to kidnap the princess again! Meet me in front of the castle tonight with Mario if you know what's good for you. MWAHAHAHA, Bowser."

The Mario Bros. stopped what they were doing and looked at Toad with confusion.

"Well that's what it says!" Toad said, pointing at the letter.

"Let me have a look." Mario practically ordered, turning the letter in Toad's hand so he could read it. He quickly read it under his breath.

"It seems legit... But why would Bowser send the letter to **you?** " He asked.

"Yeah, it _does_ seem pretty strange." Luigi added.

"I don't know!" Toad replied. "But we should probably go, just in case..."

"Okie dokie then." Mario said.

"You should bring the letter with you two, just to make sure it was-a him." Luigi said.

Toad nodded and said enthusiastically, "Will do!"

"OK, now that we've-a sorted out the letter, **can you get out of our house now Toad?** " Mario asked angrily.

"U-uh, Y-yes, Mario!" Toad quickly stammered, then ran out of the house just as fast as he came in.

A huge pile of paper slammed onto the dinner table, sending half of the pile flying.

"Sorry, Princess!" The Toad that was carrying the pile of paper said.

"It's OK!" Peach replied. She yawned and reached for the top of the pile and grabbed an envelope. She always had a ton of mail in the morning, and today was no exception.

"Let's see what we've got here." She said as she opened the envelope. She pulled out a piece of paper and read it.

"Oh great, ANOTHER power bill." She complained, rolling her eyes. She put it to the side, starting a pile. She went through all the other letters and envelopes, most of them being some sort of bill or invitation to do something somewhere. After about half an hour's "work" of looking at and sorting mail, she came across a envelope with a sticker of Bowser's emblem as a stamp. Even though it wasn't _actually_ a stamp, the Koopas that sorted the mail let it pass. Maybe even happily. Or through fear. No-one but them knew. Just as she was about to open it, Toadsworth came in.

"Good morning, Princess!" He waved.

"Morning!" Peach waved back. She waited until he went into another room before opening the envelope. She pulled out the letter and read it.

 _PEACH._

 _MEET ME OUTSYD THE CASLTE TOONIGHT._

 _BOWSER._

She looked at Bowser's writing.

 _'Wow, Bowser's really improved. Which is strange. He'd never practice his handwriting. Unless Kamek made him,'_ She thought. _'I'll take this with me, just to see what's going on.'_

She folded up the letter neatly and slipped it in her pocket. She had a strangely bad feeling about tonight.

"M-Mario, are you _sure_ that we're gonna be safe?" Toad stammered, hiding behind Mario's leg.

" **Yes,** we're-a going to be **fine.** " Mario replied.

"There's really no reason to worry, Toad." Peach explained. "Besides, aren't you used to me being kidnapped now?"

"Um, yes- no- sorta?" Toad blabbered.

"Mmm-hmm." Mario nodded sarcastically.

The three heard heavy footsteps coming towards them.

"B-B-B-B-B- **BOWSER!** " Toad shrieked.

Bowser walked over to them and said to Toad, "You don't need to shout so loud. Sheesh!"

Then everyone just stood in an awkward silence. After sometime, Mario asked, "So, uh, Bowser. When are you going to kidnap the princess?"

Bowser raised an eyebrow and looked at Mario, confused.

"You _did_ say that you were going to kidnap me tonight right here." Peach added, waving the letter.

"Let me see that letter." Bowser said, half-stomping over to Peach and grabbing the letter out of her hand. He scowled as he skimmed over the letter.

"This isn't even my handwriting!" He yelled.

"It's not?!" Toad yelled from behind Mario's leg.

"Wait. Would that mean..." Mario thought aloud.

"Mean what? C'mon, Mario! Spill!" Bowser shouted at him.

"This whole meeting was a set-up?" Mario finished.

"A set-up?" Toad questioned. "Why would anyone want us to meet in the same place? To get a photo of us?"

A mysterious green swirl appeared in the sky, outshining the stars and the moon. Peach was the only one to notice this, as the others were too busy talking about why someone would make them meet in the same place. The swirl got bigger and starting acting like a black hole, except it looked like it was spitting something out instead of pulling something in. The swirl opened up a portal, and out came four green Lumas. There were four of them, three males and one female. Out of the males, there was a dull green Luma, a lime green Luma and a mint green Luma, as well a emerald Luma, which was the female.

"Guys." Peach said.

No reply. Still too busy talking.

"GUYS."

Still not reply.

" **GUYS.** "

Mario, Toad and Bowser looked at Peach.

" _That's_ why we were made to meet here." She said somewhat angrily, pointing at the Lumas that had just come through the portal.

The other three looked in the direction Peach pointed in.

"That can't be right." Bowser said. "Why would the Lumas want _me_ here? I thought they're still scared to death of me."

The Lumas just looked at him with confusion.

"I don't recall seeing you." The female Luma said.

"MAYBE HE'S THAT MONSTER ALL THE OTHERS WENT ON ABOUT!" The dull green Luma said loudly.

"You don't have to be so loud Crocodile." A mint green Luma said to the dull green Luma, Crocodile.

"Are you lost?" Peach asked.

"No. Nowhere near it." A lime Luma said proudly, puffing up his chest and putting his stubby little hands on his 'hips'.

The mint green Luma said, "We're here to tell you somethi-"

He was cut short by Crocodile, who shouted, "I'M CROCODILE!"

"Wow Crocodile, for once you came up with a good idea!" The lime Luma said with a hint of sarcasm. "Guys, and... girl, we're going to introduce ourselves!"

"I've already done that!" Crocodile said in his usual loud voice.

"No star." The mint green Luma said.

The lime green Luma said, "I'm Lime! The leader of this group!" He put one of his hands on his chest.

The mint Luma said in a bored tone, "Yeah, hi, I'm Mint."

"I'M CROCO- wait. I've already introduced myself." Crocodile said.

The female Luma enthusiastically said, "And I'm Emerald!"

"Nice to meet you!" Toad said. "I'm Toad! Toad Toad! Not to be confused with Toad. You know, that blue guy."

"Soooooo what's "the thing" that you were going to tell us? AND WHY DID YOU MAKE US MEET OUT HERE **IN THE DARK?** " Bowser asked rather angrily.

Emerald said, "We brought you here because..." She took a deep breath in and babbled, "YoufouraretheNewHeroesandyouneedtogoandsavetheworldfromanevilKoopakingcalledRexebrisbutfirstyouneedtodefeattheWillbenderandbefriendhimandconvincehimtogowithyoutohelpyoudefeatRexebrisbutbefore **that** youneedtogogettheguythatRexebriskidnappedtobeheirtohisarmy'sthronebutheescapedsomewheredon'taskmesoooooooo YA andthenyouhavetotakehimbacktowherehe **actually** lives."

Mario, Toad (who'd come out from behind Mario's leg at this point), Bowser and Peach stared at her blankly.

"Soooo _what_ did you-a say?" Mario asked.

 _'Knew I shouldn't of said that all so fast,'_ thought Emerald. "Let me say that slower. You four are the New Heroes. You need to go and save the Mushroom World from an evil Koopa king called Rexebris. But first, you need to defeat and befriend the Willbender and convince him to come with you so he can help you defeat Rexebris. But before **that,** you need to find the koopa that Rexebris kidnapped to be heir to his army's throne and return him to where he actually lives."

"So here's what you have to do in order: 1. Find the koopa that Rexebris kidnapped and return him to his proper home. 2. Defeat the Willbender in battle and brefriend him. Don't forget to convince him to come with you. And 3. Defeat Rexebris." Lime listed.

"Anything else?" Toad asked.

"Yeah, actually." Mint replied. "We all have this weird Luma-ry bond with you guys. Lime told me why, but I don't remember."

Lime facepalmed.

"It's going to be a long journey. I suggest you tell someone you'll be gone for quite a while." Emerald suggested. "Although don't tell them it's because you're off to save the world. It's supposed to be our secret."

"Just as well I-a brought my phone!" Mario said, holding up a Super ShySung Galaxy S6. "I can tell Luigi now!"

He wrote a text to Luigi that said: hey weegee, goin on a holiday w/ peach, will b back in a few days.

He soon got a reply that said: am i going 2? :D

Mario replied: no.

He then got a reply that was simply: :( c u latr then.

"I'll have to go and _actually_ tell Toadsworth I'll be gone. I think I'll use the holiday excuse." Peach said.

"Same. I'll have to go back and tell Kamek I'll be gone." Bowser added. "I'd text him, but the keyboard is too small and my texts look more alphabet soup and then Auto Correct does weird things and the text make no sense."

"And I won't need to tell anyone!" Toad said. "The princess is coming and no-one really cares... They all care about that blue guy."

"OK, now that you've sorted out how ya gonna tell someone that you'll be gone, can we, y'know, sort out when we're gonna leave? Or where we're going to even **meet?** " Mint asked.

"How about we meet here?" Peach suggested.

"Early in the morning! _Real_ early in the morning! Like, 3 in the morning!" Toad added.

"YEAH! OK! LET'S GO THEN!" Crocodile shouted.

"Okayyyyyy, 3 in the gosh darned morning it is." Mint said.

"YEAH!" Crocodile shouted.

"3 in the morning? I'll never remember to get up then!" Bowser exclaimed. "Unless I get Kamek to wake up then... Yeah, that works."

"So, we'll all meet here at 3 AM and leave when everyone's here. Agreed?" Emerald asked.

"Agreed." Everyone else said in unison.

"Until then!" Lime said, opening the portal that the Lumas came through and leaving with his peers.


	8. Chapter 6: Beginning Plans

Kamek huffed as he arrived at the meeting place Bowser had mentioned, carrying a sleeping Bowser on the back of his broom.

"Uh, Kamek?" Peach asked.

"Oh, hey Peach, nice to see ya," Kamek said in between puffs.

"Whyare you carrying Bowser? I thought he said you going to wake him up," Peach asked.

"I _tried,_ but he's sleeping heavier than usual!" He replied.

"Mayyyyyybeeeeee heeeeeee's... taking a power nap?" Toad suggested.

"Master Bowser doesn't *huff* power nap. I've raised him since he was two. He *puff* didn't power nap back then, either. Never has," Kamek snapped back.

He dropped Bowser on the ground with a loud **THUMP**.

"My job here is done. Goodbye," Kamek said, then flew away.

"Now we-a just have to wait for the Lumas," Mario said. "Aaaaand wait for Bowser to wake up."

"BOWSER! WAKE UP!" Toad yelled.

"Toad!" Peach said scornfully.

Bowser groggily swiped at Toad, who jumped back to avoid the Koopa King's claws.

"You should know better than that, thinkin' that you can just get away with yellin' at me," Bowser mumbled. He was obviously very tired, and the evidence wasn't hard to see. Just one glance at him and you could tell that he was tired. He then proceeded to go back to sleep.

Peach lightly poked Bowser's cheek and whispered, "Bowser..."

Bowser opened up his eyes a little and grunted, "Mmm. What."

"We would appreciate it if you be a little more awake while we wait for the Green Lumas to come," Peach said.

"Yeah? Well, too bad," Bowser grumbled back, closing his eyes again.

"Come on, Bowser," Peach said.

Bowser snorted out a puff of smoke before grunting, "Nope."

"Please?" Peach asked.

"Nope," Bowser once again replied.

"What about defeating Rexebris? What about befriending the Willbender?" Toad asked, "What about getting that escapee back to his home?"

Bowser's eyes widened. He had forgot all about that.

"OK, fine," He mumbled, getting up.

A green swirl appeared in the sky, in almost the exact same place as it was the previous night. The swirl opened up into a portal and the Green Lumas came out, just like last time.

"HEYA GUYS!" Crocodile shouted.

"Are we late?" Emerald asked frantically. "I hope we're not late..."

"Late, shmate. Does it really matter? We're standing outside, **in the dark** , and you're caring about being _late?_ " Bowser asked angrily.

"U-um, yes." Emerald stammered.

Bowser snorted smoke out of his nostrils. "Of course," he muttered.

"So is everyone here?" Lime asked.

"Yep!" Mario replied.

"OK then!" Lime shouted. "Let's go find that escapee!"

Rexebris sat on his throne, tapping his claws on one of the arms. It had been two days since Morton, his new heir, had escaped, only leaving behind his shell. He had figured that Morton had escaped through the window, seeing as that was the only way to not disturb anyone. He had sent out several squadrons of his troops to find him, but so far, no traces of the Dark March's new prince had been found.

The doors burst open, breaking Rexebris away from his train of thought. A squadron of Koopa Troopas ran up to him.

"King Rexebris! I think we've found something!" One of the Koopa Troopas said quickly.

"What is it?" Rexebris replied, standing up.

"We've found some footprints near a river! They look like they could be his!" The Koopa Troopa reported.

"Follow the footprints, then!" Rexebris yelled their orders. "We cannot have the prince absent forever!"

The squadron saluted and said, "Yes, King!" They then ran out of the castle to find the footprints and follow them.

Rexebris sat back down in his throne and sighed, partly happy and relieved, and partly worried. He didn't have much hope in some Koopa Troopas finding and bringing back Morton, but given the situation, he had to put his trust into them. But the fact that some evidence of Morton out there and alive - it filled Rexebris with happiness.

 _'Morton will make a excellent leader - if only he'd listen to me...'_ Rexebris thought.

A Hammer Bro. entered the room and said to him, "King Rexebris, the Sledge Bros. are now ready for the raid."

"Exellent," Rexebris said with a smirk, then told the Hammer Bro., "Tell the crew to lift off immediately!"

"Yes King!" The Hammer Bro. saluted, then jogged back to the corridor from which he entered from.

"Well this is just fantastic," Kamek muttered, looking at the now empty area where the Koopa Troop's Chain Chomps would be. "Kidnapping Morton just isn't enough for that creep, is it?"

The sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway as Larry made his way over to the Chain Chomp area.

"Oh, hey Kamek, didn't know you were here," Larry said to Kamek, making the Magikoopa jump a little.

"Hi Larry, I assume you're on Troop Count?" Kamek asked, regaining his composure.

"Yeah," Larry replied, looking out at where the Chain Chomps would be. "How come the Chain Chomps aren't here?"

Kamek looked at the room and said, "I have a feeling Rexebris stole them, but then again, how am I meant to know?"

"But isn't taking Morton a bit much?" Larry asked, confused as to why the actions taken by Rexebris were even taken.

" _Too_ much. The only reason why he would do that is to have more numbers," Kamek replied.

"Right," Larry said, concern written all over him. "I'll just have to put down that they were stolen. Or just went missing." He quickly jotted down a number, presumably zero, and a note beside it.

"Well, see ya later, Kamek," Larry said, walking away. He stopped and turned around to ask Kamek, "Where's Dad?"

Kamek hesitated before saying, "He's... checking up on things. Should be back soon."

Larry nodded and ran back up the stairs.


	9. Chapter 7: Traveling and Shock

The red hues of the sun rising caked the surroundings as the quartet of heroes trudged on sleepily, with the Green Lumas either floating behind them. Apart from Mint, who was starting to doze off on Toad's large mushroom cap. Unfortunately for him, Lime was far from tired, and was trying to rally on the rest of his friends.

"Come ON, guys! We gotta keep going!" Lime yelled, startling Mint, "How are we gonna get find that kidnapee if we walk slower than an elderly Octoomba?"

Mint yawned as he said, "Seriously, Lime. We should… We should really… get some rest. Can't find the…the kidnapee when…we're shuffling like a pack of Dry Bones."

Lime opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he realised that Mint had a point. He thought before saying, "Well, can't we go little further? We can take a rest when we find an appropriate spot."

Bowser let out a loud groan of annoyance and Toad grumbled, "No way, dude."

Bowser looked over at Mario, who was the least tired out of all them, and asked sleepily, "Hey Mario, how do have so much Grambi damn stamina? Honestly, it's kinda freakish."

"After all the times you've kidnapped Peach, I got used to having to run and jump all the way over to the Darklands," Mario replied.

"Fair enough," Bowser mumbled, a thin wisp of smoke coming out of his mouth as he exhaled.

Peach blinked with realisation and asked, "Where did Lime go? I swear he was right in front of us a moment ago."

"Eh, he's probably gone off to find some place to hit the hay," Mint mumbled his reply, "Once he's been motivated, it's like there's no stop to his energy."

"How do he even do it?" Crocodile questioned, who was feeling quite tired himself.

"Beats me…" Mint's reply was barely audible as he drifted off into sleep on Toad's mushroom cap.

The quartet and three of the Green Lumas continued onwards in slightly awkward silence as they tried not to fall asleep. A few minutes later, Lime came rushing back, excitement written all over him.

"Guys! I found somewhere to camp!" Lime exclaimed with the same amount of excitement that was shown, "Come on!"

He rushed away, leaving the heroes and the Green Lumas to run as fast as their tired feet could take them. Eventually they reached a small forest clearing near a river.

Mario smacked his forehead as he said, "We totally forgot to bring tents."

"I don't even _have_ tents at the castle," Bowser shrugged slightly, "There'd be no way that I'd fit into anyone's."

"I never found the need to get 'em," Toad commented.

"Welp, we're just gonna have to deal with it," Crocodile replied sharply.

Emerald rambled nervously, "But it's cold and dark and the wind is also chilly and—"

"It's cold and dark in space, Emerald," Lime replied.

"Yeah, but we live at the _Observatory,_ where it _isn't_ cold and dark and there's no chilly wind and—"

"WE GET IT!" Crocodile yelled, waking Mint.

"Shhhhhhhhut up," Mint replied sleepily, before drifting back off to sleep again.

"We're gonna tough it. No biggie," Bowser grumbled. He sat down with a thud and withdrew into his shell.

"'Night… Morning… Whatever," he mumbled before going silent, presumably going to sleep. Crocodile floated over to him and landed on his shell, fitting himself in between some spikes before falling asleep, snoring loudly.

"Great, he's a snorer," Mario complained.

"Annyoing – yes," Emerald added before floating over to a tree branch and sat down on it and closed her eyes. "Sleep well."

The rest of the heroes and Green Lumas got themselves ready to sleep in silence, occasionally breaking said silence to say good night to each other. Eventually they were all fast asleep.

Things at the Comet Observatory were going as usual. Lumas were playing games of Tag or Hide-and-Seek with each other, and Polari was keeping a close eye on them as they passed by. Red was where he usually was, above the Bedroom with the Red Star. Everything was going perfectly, but something nagged at Polari. He felt like something, some _one_ , was missing. He decided to look around, just to make sure everything was okay. He floated over to the Terrace and looked over to the green Launch Star. Then he realized it. The Green Lumas weren't there.

He rushed over to the Library, where Rosalina was reading a book.

"Miss Rosalina!" Polari shouted.

Rosalina looked up from her book asked asked, "Yes?"

"It's the Green Lumas! They're not here!" Polari told her, panicking.

Rosalina closed the book, put it down and stood up, immediately floating off the ground a little. She went outside and called the Lumas over to her.

"It has been brought to my attention that the Green Lumas are not here. I want you to search the Observatory and try to find them," Rosalina told the Lumas in her monotone voice.

"They're not here," Red said, causing all the Lumas and Rosalina to look at him. "They went down into the atmosphere."

The Lumas gasped in shock.

"But why…?" Rosalina questioned.

Red did not answer this, instead going back to his spot above the Bedroom.

"Miss Rosalina, I'm getting a strange vibe off Red," Polari told Rosalina, who took in and thought about Polari's words. "He's strange… Maybe… _too_ strange…"


End file.
